Hi =) im new. just checkin out the board.
These are my views on religion if anyone cares to read them.

Every religion has people who think they have 100% faith in their religion right? seems impossible. probably is. But all of those people, as sure as they think they are, cant be right. Not every one, because some religions contridict eachother. So no one really knows. if one person did know for sure and did have 100% faith with a reason other than needing to depend on something, they they would have a reason to have that much faith, and show us and be able to prove it to everyone. Then there would be one religion. So many people say "there is proof" if there is then why isnt there just one religion and one belief system?
so i dont believe in anything. I dont not believe in anything either.
I just dont know, and i wont until i die. and neither will any one else. Im ok with not knowing, im not going to look for something to fill a void, because inme there is no void to fill. people lean on religion because they need to think that they are going to be ok, that there is something out there that will help them. The only person that can help you is yourself.
Im open to listen to anyones views, i dont like things being pushed on me. i respect peoples ideas.
ok i guess thats all i have to say.
-shreaky

religion isn't about having proof. if there were proof, then faith - perhaps the strongest point of religion would be pointless. it would be fact. i'm not religious, but have come to accept that religion requires no proof. it doesn't make it right or wrong in itself, it just uh.....makes it.

i'm beginning to think that none of us will ever know.

thats my whole point. we wont know. not during this life anyways. When you die you may or may not find out. either way, you are right, you do not need proof for religion. but that wasnt the point i was trying to make. all i was saying is that no one really knows. and no one can say that they are right. A lot of people believe in something because they dont believe in themselfs. people i think need something to lean on. something to make them feel better so if they need something they can pray and think that something will help them. But no one can help you but yourself. Prayer wont make you a rock star or get you rich or whatever you want. If you want something you have to do it yourself but people cant stand the thought of having to do something themself.

There is no God, he was made up by man to do two things.

1. To explain the unexplainable, where did we come from, were are we going.

2. To instill fear into man to get them to do right.



That sounds pretty good doesnt it?
I said that same exact thing for years untill I fell down full of the Holy Spirit.


Now Faith

There is no such thing as "blind faith"
You goto sit in a chair, you dont even think about if it will hold you, you just sit in it.
You go and start your car, believing that it will start, thats faith.
Faith is something you either have or dont have, there is no in between. Jesus said , verily I say to you, unless you become born again you CANNOT enter the kingdom of heaven.
The bible says faith comes by hearing of the word of God.
Jesus also said, if you seek me with all your heart you will find me.

I have faith to pray for many things in my life and sit back to watch God work.
So faith, you either have it or you dont.

Half the time I tro to start my care, it just coughs and dies. I guess my faith didn't take me far there, eh?

everyone has their own opinion and im not going to put down anyone elses. i think its good if you can believe in something, if it helps you. i cant, but i dont need to.
I think of the bible like the war of the worlds. With that everyone freaked out because they didnt know how it started, and they thought it was real. No one really knows where the bible started, so everyone believes it and thinks its real.
Im not saying its not. Like i said i dont know.
But thats kinda what i think of it.

They know where the bible started. It was written over a period of several hundred years, each generation adding and removing, editing and manipulating untill it became the patchwork it is today.

yeah the time period. I think i kind of meant how it started. I mean people have ideas, yeah god talked to people or whatever. But there is no proof of anything.

Religion has always been there, because we need to believe. Christianity sprung out from judaism, which in turn got its ideas from the ancient babylonian and mesopotamian religions...they got their ideas from even older religions, and so on and so forth untill we end up with a few bright tribal shamans...

but why do "we" need to believe? because no body can do anything for themselfs. people are so dependant on an idea, a thought, an assumption.. on what they believe to be a highter power that will do everything for them and answer thier prayers. it doesnt work like that. i cant pray to god tonight that in a month ill have my dream job and get it. because i have to work for it you know? i dont have the experiance i need now. and that goes for a lot of things.

We need to believe because we need hope. We need to feel loved, that we are part of something, belonging. It's nothing more than a desperate need to be accepted, I think. God loves you, so you must be a pretty nice fellow...

another reason might be the fear of being on your own...with a religion to lean on, you can reassure yourself that if things gets real bad, someone will be there and pull you up. And if they don't, they probably have a reason not to, it's all part of a bigger plan. We need explanations...why do children suffer...why do accidents happen...why can't I get laid...the Grand Scheme of some bigger deity is as good a reason as any.

Its not a good reason at all though, just an excuse.It must be satisfying to blame things on a conceptual personification since they`ll never be able to defend themselves.Most of those whys can be answered by "these things just happen" or " people make these things happen".
People could place their hopes in each other or themsleves but its easier to make a impersonal system that doesnt(or rarely) betrays you.

Your right about praying for that dream job and not getting it, for the most part.
One of the 2 things that conveinced me that there is a God was this. If you want something you have to take it, its not going to come to you.
That is a foundational way of a Christians walk, what you reap is what you sow.

But what you do pray for is what is in Gods will. Gods will is not mysterious, its in the bible. You have spiritual gifts that you should develope, people have problems that God wants to fix.
There are many good things to pray for.
If I wanted a job real bad, I would ask God to show me how to do my best. Then pray for my stability and confidence to go and get it. It doesnt mean I will get the job, thats not his main concern.

[Is anyone among you suffering?Then he must pray. ......
Is anyone among you sick?Then he ust call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him,....
Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.] James 5:13-15

Now I said before that you either have faith or dont, but I was refering to that person who said they have it for no real reason.
I also talked about the chair.
Now I never said the chair was 100% of the time going to hold you, but you sit in it without thinking that would ever happen.

Well i am happy with how i believe. Im not going to pretend to believe
like i said, i dont know and i wont know until i die. and maybe i wont even know then.
but i am ok with not knowing about anything, and im ok with depending on myself and not an idea of a god. Im here, im physical. im all i need to believe in

Those ideas don't make you christian. I too, believe I have to do things myself to get them done. I see no point in involving higher powers there, I trust my own. If god doesn't help you, what use is there for prayers? If you are sick, get a doctor. If you are suffering, deal with it and move on.

If I want a job real bad, I would look into myself, focusing on how to get it, how to appear my best. Which is basically the same as you are doing, only you clod it up by involving a second party, which as you yourself said, has other things on his mind. Why not just get the self-confidence to trust yourself, and your own instincts?

i dont think that could have been said better.

Prayers sound creepily like spells to me.Only difference is how gets the credit.^_^

Yes...either way, you're taking an extra turn around some higher power that may, or more likely may not, help out, when you could have just gone straight to the chore.

If you want to suffer and not ask for help thats up to you.
Doctors are only good if you can afford them, and to say that they are still around(meaning they may not be there, if something happens, like a disaster or your broke.)
Personaly I would rather say a prayer than, pay a bill.

When I do something I ask God to help me the best I can be at it.
Improve my thoughts or show me how to think.
There are different ways he can help you with this, its neat.


Shreak you say you dont know, and you "Dont want to know".

So if you found out, would you change your life, or want to know more about God?

Because it sounds like you dont want to know if there is a God.
What? do you just want to walk in darkness? And always wonder what is truth. Lieing in your bed and dieing not knowing of the future.

Ok, i am going to go back on what i said. I worded it wrong.
If it was possible to KNOW, if it could be proven to me, id love to know. What i meant was i dont need to know. By not wanting to know i meant that Its not something that i think about. Not something that i cant live without knowing, or even have a curiousity about anymore.
im hoping that makes sense, i just woke up.

You said..

"Personaly I would rather say a prayer than, pay a bill. "

Doesnt that prove my point about people not being able to do things for them selfs? You would rather say a prayer when you are sick, than work to pay off a bill. its laziness, and not wanting to do things for yourself.
Tell me this..
If you had a child, and your child was very sick... would you chance it with prayer, or would you take him/her to the doctors and pay the bill?
You would take your kid to the doctors or the hospital. If not youre pretty sick and your opinion no longer means anything to me.
Or maybe you would do both, but how much faith does that give you in your prayer?